Nan and Mum only laugh harder, and something loosens in my chest, making me smile. They like him already, and Gunnar’s blooming like a flower in their presence, showing a soft side of himself that makes my heart skip.
I can’t remember the last time my family liked a bloke I brought home.
Damn it.
This is fake.Fake.
If I just keep reminding myself of that, maybe my stupid heart will understand.
We end up spending the rest of the day with my parents. My face hurts from smiling, and laughter has rendered my throat quite thoroughly hoarse.
When Gunnar yawns behind his fist, I check the time on my phone. “Goodness! It’s about time we were off.”
Mum’s face falls. “Absolutely not! It’s dark and stormy outside. The roads aren’t safe.”
I part the curtains, shocked to find rain streaking the windows. When the hell did this storm start? I check the forecast on my phone and sigh. It’s supposed to last all night.
“Stay the night, both of you,” Mum insists.
“You’re sure?” Gunnar asks.
“Of course. You can have the guest bedroom.”
Mum leads us to the spare bedroom. Rain sluices the windows, obscuring the normally gorgeous view of the woods. Mum and I grab some fresh linens from the closet, and I insist on helping her make the bed while Nan shows Gunnar to the bathroom.
“Honey, I was thinking,” Mum says, tucking the sheet under the corner of the mattress, “why don’t you let us host your wedding?”
I look up with a jolt of surprise. “No, no! I wouldn’t want you to go to all that trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all,” she assures me. “We can host the wedding in our barn.”
My heart clenches. On the rare occasions I’d imagined getting married, I’d always thought that the barn on my family’s property would be perfect. The one thing I hadn’t imagined was that my future husband would be fake.
Knowing it won’t be a real wedding makes me not want to do it at all.
“The barn’s a mess,” I say, trying to dismiss the idea.
Mum waves a hand. “It won’t even take an hour to get it fixed up. Of course, it’s your wedding. You can do as you like. I thought it would be nice, that’s all.” She unfurls a quilted blanket and spreads it over the bed.
It hurts to think that none of this will be real, but that’s not what should matter. If we’re hosting the wedding in the barn, that will give me an excuse to stay near my family. They’ll have more opportunity to get to know Gunnar. I have no doubt he’llwin them over in no time, and the sooner that happens, the sooner I can get the final ingredient for my potion.
“I’ll ask Gunnar and if he’s on board, then so am I,” I tell her, giving her a thankful smile.
Speak of the devil, Gunnar steps through the doorway. “Thank you for your hospitality,” he says to Mum.
“It’s my pleasure. Have a good night, boys.”
Once she’s gone, I turn to face Gunnar—and the single bed. Heat runs down my neck. Gunnar drops his gaze to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll take the floor.”
“You don’t have to.”
Gunnar grabs a pillow and an extra blanket. “It’s no hardship. I’ve slept on less comfortable surfaces whilst I was away from home hunting.”
“You go that far away to hunt?” Surely he could find prey closer to home or butcher livestock.
Gunnar shrugs. “Being out in the open wilderness helps clear my head.”
“Is that safe? Doesn’t your wolf need a connection to his pack?” It makes me nervous imagining Gunnar spending long hours away from his family.
